Intimate Trial Chapter 21

Chapter 21

Three o’clock in the morning.The city was sleeping outside the window, with only a solitary light shining in Shen Shenlin’s apartment.She curled up on the sofa, like a wounded animal licking its wounds, typing the almost self-destructive confession on the cold screen with her fingertips.

Silin: Insomnia, I seem to be attracted to Ye Chang.

Send.Then, there was deathly silence.Time was stretched out, and every second seemed to slow down her courage.She stared at the screen, her heart pounding in her chest, nearly breaking her ribs.Shame, panic, and a hint of despair overwhelmed her.

The phone finally vibrated.She grabbed it suddenly, and the light from the screen made her squint.

Insomnia: …

A meaningful ellipsis, like a pause before the hammer of judgment falls.

Insomnia (Ye Chang): As expected.

Insomnia (Ye Chang): From the moment you decide to walk into Ye’s Building, this becomes one of the most probable endings.Tell me, when was it?Did she hand you the thorn, or did she exchange the coffee for your favorite tea?

Shen Shenlin’s breathing stopped suddenly.The other party was so accurate, as precise as holding a psychological monitoring report on her.

Silin: I don’t know… maybe tonight.She sent me back and said… let me feel the “temperature”.She said that being off track occasionally is not necessarily a bad thing.

On the other side of the screen, Ye Chang was sitting in the study room of the penthouse apartment, with two devices in front of him.One displays work emails, and the other displays the encrypted chat interface called “Insomnia”.It was dark night outside the window, her face was half-dark under the cold light of the screen, and there was a cold and playful arc at the corner of her mouth.

Insomnia (Ye Chang): “Temperature”?

She typed the word, as if savoring its absurdity.

Insomnia (Ye Chang): Silin, have you forgotten why we are talking here?It’s because of “insomnia” and countless nights burned by hatred.Is the tenderness Ye Chang gave you enough to pay for the fraction of your father’s company’s auction price?Is it enough to wipe away the tears your mother shed when she begged for help?

Every word was like a poisonous needle, precisely piercing Shen Silin’s most painful nerve.This is exactly the consistent style of “Insomnia” – cold and sharp, using bloody reality to flog any weak thoughts in her.Shen Shenlin closed her eyes and could almost imagine the other person’s cold expression as he typed.She didn’t know that on the other side of the screen, Ye Chang’s eyes were calm and calm, even with a hint of pleasure in admiring the prey walking into the trap.

Silin: I haven’t forgotten!But…she doesn’t know what I want to do!Those “good” things, even if they are just fake, are… too real.I couldn’t help thinking.

Insomnia (Ye Chang): Can’t control it?

Ye Chang picked up the black coffee at hand and took a sip, the bitterness melting on the tip of his tongue.She typed slowly.

Insomnia (Ye Chang): Then don’t control it.Let it grow.

(Si Lin was stunned, almost thinking she had seen it wrong.)

Insomnia (Ye Chang): Listen.Now that your heart is moved, let it become your weapon.Ye Chang gives you “warmth”, and you respond with “heartbeat”.Make her think you are falling and let her guard down.Turn your every blush and heartbeat into a step closer to her secret; every time you have insomnia, turn it into a deduction to figure out her weaknesses.

Insomnia (Ye Chang): What you have to do is not to suppress, but to guide.Guide this “heartbeat” to make it look pure, clumsy, and uncontrollable…and then, at the most critical node, turn it into a dagger inserted into her heart.

Shen Shenlin’s blood seemed to freeze as she looked at these words.She never thought that “Insomnia” would give such advice – not to kill emotions, but to use emotions, or even… cultivate emotions, as the ultimate weapon of betrayal.This suggestion was so dark, so decisive, yet so…fitting with her desperate situation at the moment.

Insomnia (Ye Chang): Remember, real hunters often appear as prey.All the entanglement, pain, and involuntariness you feel now are the best disguises.Let Ye Chang believe that she has successfully tamed you, a little beast that broke into her territory with ulterior motives.Let her enjoy the feeling of control.

Insomnia (Ye Chang): When she exposes her most vulnerable throat to you, tell me again, are you still “uncontrollable”?

Shen Silin sat in the darkness, the light from the screen reflecting her pale face and violently trembling pupils.These words were like the whispers of a devil, opening a door to a darker abyss for her, but they also seemed to give her a clear, cruel, but perhaps feasible path.

Silin: …I understand.Take advantage of it.

Insomnia (Ye Chang): It’s not use, it’s sacrifice.Sacrifice this ridiculous and pitiful “heartbeat” of yours as the sacrifice of ultimate revenge.This is worthy of the price you paid and the name “Insomnia”.

sacrifice.Silin chewed the word, a shiver mixed with self-destructive pleasure and bone-deep coldness crawled throughout her body.

Insomnia (Ye Chang): From tomorrow on, let your eyes stay for 0.5 seconds longer, and respond to her “temperature” with a trace of real panic.But remember, on a “sleepless” night, you must be more awake than ever.Feel free to get in touch.

The conversation stopped abruptly.Ye Chang put down his cell phone, leaned back on the large chair, and looked out the window at the dark night.There was no unnecessary expression on her face, just a calmness like the deep sea.

The door of the study room was gently pushed open a crack, and Su Yu controlled the wheelchair and slid in silently, holding the quiet ragdoll cat in his arms.The cold light of the screen reflected a small half of her face, with clear eyes, looking at Ye Chang behind the desk.

“Auntie, aren’t you asleep yet?”

Ye Chang’s fingertips paused imperceptibly on the keyboard. Almost at the same moment, she switched to an ordinary financial report interface.All the cold playfulness and deep thoughts of “insomnia” on his face faded away like the tide, and were replaced by a natural, slightly tired softness.

“It’s almost time.” She turned her chair and faced Su Yu, her voice was very soft, “Why are you up too?”

“Thirsty.” Su Yu replied briefly, but his eyes fell on the second screen that Ye Chang had not had time to completely dim. There seemed to be an afterimage of a chat window there.

Ye Chang followed her line of sight and looked unchanged. He stood up naturally and walked around the desk.”Okay, I’ll pour you some water.” She walked to the small bar, picked up the glass jug, and poured the clear water into the cup.

Su Yu controlled the wheelchair and followed her to the bar. The ragdoll cat purred comfortably in her arms.She looked at Ye Chang’s smooth movements and suddenly spoke, her voice particularly clear in the silent night:

“Is that…Assistant Shen?”

Ye Chang poured the water without any lag, and the water line was steady.She handed Su Yu eight percent of the warm water, and her fingertips brushed against the cold back of the girl’s hand.

“A person who needs extra ‘attention’.” Her tone was flat, with no emotion audible, as if she was talking about an ordinary job, “It’s a little troublesome, but it’s still under control.”

Su Yu took the water glass and did not drink it immediately. She just looked at Ye Chang with her too calm black eyes.”‘Insomnia’ assigned her another task?”

Ye Chang raised his eyebrows slightly but did not deny it.She knelt down in front of Su Yu, her eyes level with the girl in the wheelchair. She stretched out her hand to gently stroke the soft top of the cat in her arms, and then let it fall naturally into Su Yu’s hair with a gentle movement.

“Xiaoyu,” her voice was low, with a deep meaning that only the two of them could understand, “there are some paths that she has to choose and walk by herself. We just…make sure that she is on the right track.”

The right track – the track that points to destruction and atonement.

Su Yu seemed to understand the subtext. She lowered her head and took a sip of saliva, her long eyelashes hanging down.

Ye Chang stood up and straightened the thin blanket on Su Yu’s lap.”Go to bed early, we have to review tomorrow.” His tone returned to the usual care of an elder.

“Yes.” Su Yu responded, controlled the wheelchair to turn around, and prepared to leave.At the door, she paused, without looking back, and spoke softly:

“Auntie, please go to bed early. Mom hopes you won’t be too tired.” Me too, but Su Yu didn’t say the next sentence.

Ye Chang’s body froze almost imperceptibly for a moment, and then the usual softness covered her eyes again, deeper and heavier.

“Okay.” She responded, watching Su Yu’s figure disappear outside the door, and the door was gently closed.

Silence returned to the study room, except for the low hum of the computer fan.

Ye Chang did not sit back at the table immediately.She walked to the floor-to-ceiling window and looked out at the dark, almost starless night.Her own reflection was faintly reflected on the glass, calm, perfect, and flawless.

Su Yu’s words were like a pebble thrown into her seemingly peaceful heart.

“Mom will hope you don’t get too tired.”

Sister…

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When she opened them again, all the personal waves belonging to “Ye Chang” were suppressed, leaving only absolute clarity and determination.

She walked back to her desk and lit the screen again.The chat history between “Insomnia” and Shen Silin still stops at the last sentence, “Contact at any time.”

Ye Chang’s eyes fell on Shen Silin’s last sentence, “I understand. Use it.”, and the corners of his mouth slowly raised a very faint arc without any warmth.

Yes, take advantage of it.

Use your heartbeat, your pain, your struggles.

Forge all your true emotions into the most exquisite link in the chain of my revenge.

She moved the mouse to encrypt and archive the entire chat record, with the label named: [Prey-Domestication Process-Emotional Induction Stage].

Then, she turned off the computer and turned off the light in the study.

On the way back to the bedroom, she stopped and stood quietly for a moment after passing Su Yu’s closed door.

The moonlight streamed in from the window at the end of the corridor, casting cool light spots on the floor.

She didn’t go in, she just stretched out her hand and touched the cold door panel very gently, almost reverently.

It’s like touching a dream that can never be warm again, and also like confirming all the reasons for you to continue walking.

Then, she turned around and walked into her own boundless, cold darkness.

No one really sleeps tonight.

The hunter is setting a trap and the prey is practicing camouflage.

And hatred is the only beacon that never goes out in this deep night.